Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 482 2 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States launched initiatives that test the limits of international human rights law. The indef- inite detention and torture of detainees at Guantá- namo Bay, targeted killing, and mass surveillance require an expansion of executive authority that negates the rule of law. In Permanent State of Emergency, Ryan Alford establishes that the ongoing failure to address human rights abuses is a symptom of the most seri- ous constitutional crisis in American history. In- stead of curbing the increase in executive power, Congress and the courts facilitated the breakdown of the nation’s constitutional order and set the stage for presidential supremacy. The presidency, Alford argues, is now more than imperial: it is an elective dictatorship. Providing both an overview and a systematic analysis of the new regime, he objectively demonstrates that it does not meet even the minimum requirements of the rule of law. At this critical juncture in American democracy, Permanent State of Emergency alerts the public to the structural transformation of the state and reiterates the importance of the constitutional limits of the American presidency. Ryan Alford is assistant professor at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. P O L I T I C A L S T U D I E S • L A W Permanent State of Emergency Unchecked Executive Power and the Demise of the Rule of Law ryan alford An objective and unflinching analysis of the destruction of America’s constitutional order and the creation of an elective dictatorship. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S June 2017 978-0-7735-4919-7 $34.95T CDN, $29.95T US, £25.99 cloth 6 x 9 336pp eBook available